Chapter 2: Understanding the game

Kagome go up and walked just outside of the hut and sat by the door. She could ask nicer people to find her. The man was as nice as they come. 'Kinda reminds me of Hojo' she thought amusingly. His son was charming and funny and was as nice as his father.

She leaned her head back against the hut and looked at the clear night sky. It's been a couple weeks since she's been with Kenji and Taro. As she thought she fell ill. And that took a couple days to get over.

Kagome sighed she felt that she had over stayed her welcome. Not only that she needed to get back to… she closed her eyes, the thought of going back and facing Inuyasha was something she didn't want to do at the moment.

'I wanna go home…' she thought sadly. But she knew that going to the well would mean that there would be a chance of running into Inuyasha. Squeezing her eyes shut she heaved a sigh.

"Kagome? Are you ok?" Taro asked as he walked outside. "Yeah I'm ok Taro… Just thinking is all. That and I needed some air. I've been cooped up in the hut for the past couple of days" she said with a little amusement smiling at the boy as he sat down next to her.

Taro laughed "Yeah I can see where you would need some air for that. Fresh air is good for those who are just coming out from being sick too." He smiled at her and received one in return.

He looked to the sky and gazed at the stars. "So what's on your mind?" He shifted his gaze to her. "I know something's bothering you."

Kagome looked at him then to the ground "It's complicated… there's this guy…" she trailed off. "I see… and what about this guy bothers you?" he inquired.

"It's a really long story Taro… But to cut it short, he likes this girl who died a long time ago. Then I came along and I look a lot like her but were totally different personality wise…" "Go on" Taro insisted as he listened to her story.

"She was brought back to life by a witch and now every time she shows her face he runs to her… just a couple weeks ago he asked me to be his mate and I agreed to him and then I found that mutt in the woods about to indulge himself with that... that THING!" she practically shouted.

Taro put his hand over her mouth to quiet her outburst a little. "Shhh, Kagome you'll wake father." He said smiling a little. Boy did she have fire. "Sorry" she said quietly behind his hand and then smiled.

Removing his hand he spoke, "So I take it that he's a demon of sorts?" "Well he's half demon." She said. Taro nodded his head. "It makes sense now. He in his heart does and doesn't know what he wants…" He looked at Kagome "he has the heart of a human there fore feels like a human… He's confused but sure at the same time… Maybe when he talks to you and asks you something he thinks that he is asking the woman whom is so much like you." He said looking at her.

Kagome took that into consideration for a moment then looked even worse than before. 'So when Inuyasha talked to me he saw Kikyo…' she thought sadly… then a thought came to mind. "Hey how come you aren't disgusted that I would mate with a youkai?" she asked.

Taro smiled at the girl next to him once again. "I see no reason why a human and a demon can not be together… We are two beings, are we not? I don't look at demons like others do…" he looked to the sky as he spoke. "I was once with a demoness… She was great… Kind and sweet, acted much like you." He looked at her again. "She was my everything… But over time she was betroth to another." "I'm sorry…" he heard Kagome speak, he put his hand over hers as he continued.

"She was a royal and as such could not be with a human… She of course protested to her sire, professing her love to a human to him. But he did not see outside the demon law and claimed that her 'love' was nothing more than a fling. She was not going to disgrace the family name by being mated/married to a human… So my beloved gave in to her sire…" he blinked away a couple tears at the memory of his sweet Kara.

Kagome smiled at the boy, he understood what it was like to love a demon. He also understood where she was coming from. 'I can see that he still loves her… if only Inuyasha were like you Taro…' she thought and lightly squeezed the boys hand to give him some comfort.

Looking down at their hands he smiled and released his hand and patted Kagome's lightly. "You should get some rest Kagome it'll be awhile before dawn." Taro said as he stood. "You go on ahead I'll be in, in a little bit." Kagome said smiling.

Taro bowed to her and said his goodnights before heading into the hut. Kagomes sighed and looked to the sky once again. 'I wonder if Taro's right… I wonder if all this time Inuyasha imagined that I was Kikyo…' shaking her head at her thoughts she stared into the dark sky.

He could smell the scent. It was sweet and intoxicating. It was the scent of roses and cherries. Narrowed golden orbs looked sharply to the sky. 'Hn…' was his only thought.

It would be a while before it or what got close to be any threat. He could tell it was a demon or a demon of sorts. He could feel its aura from where he stood. But it wasn't threatening it was… warm…

Turning his head he ran his fingers through his long silver locks and continued his stroll through the forest.

'It will make its self known in due time.' He thought as he looked for intruders on the western lands in the wee hours of the night.

After an hour or so Kagome walked in the hut and looked at Kenji and Taro's sleeping forms on the ground. She smiles warmly and went to the little table and grabbed a piece of paper and a writing implement and started to compose a note of thanks.

A moment later Kagome quietly walked over to Taro and softly kissed his forehead and stood and walked to the doorway. She gazed upon the two who cared for her so kindly for the past two weeks. She smiled and whispered 'thank you' then left the hut. Dawn was near and she had no time to waist.

'The well obviously isn't a safe place to go right now considering the moment that I reach Edo Inuyasha will sniff me out.' she thought as she walked through the forest. "Where am I gonna go for now?" She asked herself in wonder.

Stopping by a stream she kneeled down and scooped up some water with her hands and took a sip. Looking off into the horizon she could see that the sun ready to make a new day. She then looked into the sky.

Her eyes went wide as a misty stream of pinkish red shot across the sky.

Sensing one of her 'projects' nearby, the woman emitted a shimmery dust as she passed over the young miko.

Smiling as she passed by she kept on her way.

Kagome stood as she watched this light pass by and had the urge to touch her arms and rub them. Looking at her hands she could see something sparkly, 'glitter?' she thought mysteriously.

Then it dawned on her. She thought of whom she could try to convince to let her stick around for a while. 'I doubt he would… but it's worth a shot!' she thought with determination and started walking off to find the demon lord.

'Now the tricky part is to find him.' She thought dryly knowing all too well that it would be next to impossible to find Sesshoumaru.